US-backed SDF claims its foiled ISIS ambush in Deir Ezzor
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The SDF reported 70 operations with coalition support, arresting 95 ISIS members, including senior leaders, and seizing weapons and documents in Syria.
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US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) fighters stand guard at Al Naeem Square, in Raqqa, Syria, Monday, Feb. 7, 2022. (AP)
A spokesperson for the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) said an ISIS cell attempted to ambush a joint convoy of US-led coalition troops and SDF units in Deir Ezzor province. The attack, as per the spokesperson, was repelled, and the militants involved were neutralized, though the SDF did not specify when the incident took place.
The SDF alleged that, in recent weeks, it has carried out 70 operations in coordination with the coalition, including three wide-scale sweep campaigns. These missions led to the arrest of 95 ISIS members, among them three senior leaders, and the killing of six militants, including two commanders. Weapons, ammunition, and documents were also reportedly seized.
The statement noted that the SDF has suffered 30 fatalities and 12 wounded during the same period, while six civilians were reportedly killed in ISIS assaults.
According to the SDF, ISIS has staged 153 attacks across northern and eastern Syria since the fall of the former Syrian regime, a pace suggesting the group is attempting to reorganize and expand.
7 civilians killed in Aleppo countryside; Damascus, SDF trade blame
The Syrian Ministry of Defense stated on Sunday that the SDF shelled the village of Umm al-Tineh, which is under its control; in response, the SDF accused the ministry of committing a massacre in the village and considered its statements "an evasion of responsibility."
The Media and Communications Directorate of the Syrian Ministry of Defense reported to SANA that it had monitored rockets being launched from an SDF missile system toward the SDF-controlled village of Umm al-Tineh while shelling villages outside its own area of control.
The ministry denied the narrative being promoted by media outlets affiliated with the Syrian Democratic Forces, which claimed the Syrian army had shelled the aforementioned village, emphasizing that the party responsible for the attack was the SDF itself.
The Syrian Ministry of Defense further stated that the SDF has been systematically targeting civilians in the eastern countryside of Aleppo and that on the 10th of September, it committed a massacre in the village of al-Kiyariyah, killing two civilians and injuring three others.
Damascus complicit in civilian deaths twice over: SDF
The SDF stated that the Syrian Defense Ministry's account concerning the crime committed by armed factions affiliated with the Damascus government against civilians in Umm al-Tineh constitutes a blatant attempt to evade responsibility for the atrocity.
The Kurdish group noted that seven civilians, including children and elderly women, were killed, with an additional four wounded, in an artillery bombardment carried out by Damascus government forces the previous evening.
The SDF's statement pointed out that the forces had publicly released the names and ages of the victims, while the Defense Ministry is attempting to engage in a cycle of evasion and is, in effect, complicit in the crime twice, first through the artillery fire and second through its attempts to evade and deny responsibility.
Furthermore, it held the Damascus government responsible for the massacre, demanding that it rein in its rogue factions and commit to a peaceful path that prioritizes the lives and security of Syrians above all political and military considerations.
